BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — For the first time since it was founded in 1891 as the First National Bank of Bluefield, First Century Bank is being acquired by another company.
Summit Financial Group, Inc., based in Moorefield, has signed a “definitive merger agreement” with First Century Bankshares Inc.
“We have always been the acquirer,” said J. Ronald Hypes, senior vice president and chief financial officer of First Century. “So this is the first time we have been on the other side of the transaction.”
Hypes said one of the main factors in the acquisition is that banks are under more regulatory pressure now than they have ever been.
“The community banking model can absorb only so much of that…
